Crossing Paths
by destroyedme
Summary: Seventeen-year old Audrey Gilbert lived a life of the unknown. She didn't know who she was, didn't understand why her mother was so secretive, or why she never met her father. All of that was going to change in one not-so-ordinary afternoon.
1. Chapter 1

The window was open, just the way she liked it. The soft rustle of the leaves against the windowpane and the low, chill-vibe music that blasted from her stereo were the only sounds that occupied her cozy room. She was doing it again: shutting herself out from the world, with only her laptop in front of her and her earphones around her neck. Normally, on a sunny day like this, she'd actually step outside of her room. But today felt different for seventeen-year old Audrey Gilbert. The feeling of being trapped inside the four walls of the room was enough to make her day.

She was sitting on her bed, cross-legged, her pink shirt hugging her body closely. She was tapping away on her laptop, and constantly switching to her phone, replying to messages she couldn't care less about. It was the routine of the day. Closing Facebook on her laptop, she grabbed her phone and checked for new messages. There were none. _Ugh_. She was bored, no doubt, but somehow she couldn't pull herself away from her bed.

Her mother, Elena, had left for work. She was always at home, alone, not knowing where her mother was or what she could possibly be up to. All she knew was her mother worked at a small company that paid enough for them to continue living. She never dared to ask for more details. There were, in fact, not what in one would call a "mother and daughter relationship". It was more of a "predator and prey". Not literally. Audrey just felt like her mother cared too much and she just wanted to be left alone. _Like a typical teenager_, she'd always use as an excuse.

But Audrey wasn't quite typical. And she was about to find out.

"Nothing to do, nothing to do," she sang, dropping the phone back on her bed. She then turned the volume knob of the stereo, making the song completely diminish the sound of the leaves from outside. Sighing, she rose from the bed, into the kitchen, where she poured herself a cup of tea. She smiled, breathing its sweet scent in, allowing its warmth to gently caress her bottom lip.

Audrey walked past the counter and spotted a tiny pink note from her mother. It had the words "WILL BE BACK BEFORE DINNER." written in bold permanent marker. Rolling her eyes, she dropped the note in the waste bin and proceeded to the patio just outside the dining room. There, she plopped herself down on a chair, put her feet up against the coffee table, and continued to sip her tea. She allowed time to pass until her eyelids began to drop.

She was now in the land of dreams, caught in between reality and imagination, where nothing, or no one, could hurt her.


	2. Chapter 2

He stood outside the house, opening and closing his fists as he debated on whether or not he should do it or run away. He knew his chances of being accepted into this household were slim. Very slim. Slowly, he raised his fist over the door, and then let it drop back to his sides. He shook his head in disappointment. This wasn't like him. He would never give up. He was, after all, Damon Salvatore. It was unlikely of him to walk away without even trying.

But how could he try when he didn't even know how?

He was sure he'd gotten the right address. He'd been following her for years. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he was the perfect definition of a stalker. The house was renovated before the owner moved in. It was a light shade of brown before it was repainted and made chocolatey. Every morning, the young girl with brown hair would wake up and look out the front porch, stretching her arms out and breathing in the smell of the morning air. He'd planned this visit for years, and now there he was, on the brink of either doing it or breaking it.

Damon breathed in deeply and the knocked. There. He'd done it.

Inside, Audrey jumped up and landed herself on the floor. She yelped, touched her head and frantically looked around her. No one was there, thankfully. She dusted herself off and rose to her feet, taking precautionary glances here and there as she carefully walked back to the living room. She wasn't quite sure what woke her up. All she remembered was that she was sleeping soundly, dreaming of a vacation far, far away, when she thought she heard something loud and quick. Crossing her fingers that nothing or no one has broken in, she sat on the couch, reached between the cushions for the remote, and flicked on the TV.

Her favorite show was on. America's Next Top Model was doing reruns again, and even though she'd seen that certain episode hundreds of times, she still couldn't get enough of it. She sat in the couch and allowed herself to relax. She was almost into the show, fully immersed and feeling like one of the aspiring models, when something made her jump. There was just enough time for her to get up and bolt across the room. Standing before her was a man, brown-haired and tall, with eyes that pierced her soul and made butterflies flutter in her stomach. He looked entirely menacing, but at the same time quite alluring.

He tried knocking several times, but no one ever came to the door. And so, he found himself an open window and slid himself in. He was there for quite some time, really, but then he failed to notice the vase that stood directly in front of the window and stepped over it, making it crack into a million pieces that distributed themselves evenly on the floor.

"Audrey?" the man breathed, stepping over the pieces of porcelain. "Hello."

Audrey screamed and then grabbed the decorative fork that hung on the wall nearest her. It was only then which she noticed it. She'd never really paid attention to the unnecessary decorations in their house. "What do you want?" she gasped, waving the fork in front of her.

The man held his hand out, trying to calm the girl. "My name is Damon," he replied slowly. He seemed taken aback by the reaction of the girl. "I'm your -."

"I don't care who you are!" Audrey yelled, throwing the fork across the room, barely missing Damon, who swatted it away like it was nothing. "Get out of my house!"

He backed away slowly, raising his hands in the air in surrender. "I don't want to fight," he said. "I want to talk."

"That's a new strategy," Audrey replied, scoffing. "Most thieves would just barge in, kill the owner, and get away."

"That's because I'm not a thief," Damon replied, shaking his head. He was half amused and half frustrated with her. Why would she think he was a thief? Did she really not know who he was? "Audrey, please, put that spoon down." Audrey had gotten her hands on another decorative item: a spoon made of wood.

Audrey did drop the spoon. She stared at him in shock and said, "You know my name."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Of course I know your name."

"Who are you?" she demanded, retrieving the spoon and waving it in front of her.

"You mean Elena never told you?" he asked, walking closer.

She took a few steps backward, constantly tripping over things in the way: chairs, coffee tables, other unnecessary vases. _How does he know my mom? How does he know me? What does he want? _Her questions kept lingering in her head, until her back hit the wall and she knew she had no escape.

"Audrey," Damon said, stopping a few feet in front of her. "I'm your father."

She dropped the spoon.

And bolted out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

He ran after her, his feet kicking the ground and digging holes into the soil. He never expected her daughter to be so good at being a vampire, although she wasn't exactly a real one. He'd thought she'd have skills that were much better than what a human could do, just that. He didn't think she could actually slip away from him and run faster and faster into the woods right behind the house.

Maybe it was his fault that she'd reacted like this. He thought that maybe, just maybe, Elena had told her about her past, about who she really was, and about what she was becoming. But Elena hadn't, and now her daughter was finding out the hard way.

Audrey was still not within reach. She continued to run aimlessly into the wood, her thick brown hair slapping against her face as the wind rushed by. She knew she had to get away. She had to find someone, get some help. This man was crazy. This man couldn't be what he said he was. She lived all her life believing that her father was gone to explore the world, and that he vowed never to come back because of some dispute between him and her mother. That was all she ever knew. Looking back at the man running after her with incredible speed, she almost considered stopping. Maybe this man did have the answers. Maybe he could tell her who she was.

But looking into his dark eyes, recognizing only darkness inside them, she decided she couldn't trust him just yet. So she continued to run deeper and deeper, creating a bigger distance between her and her "father".

Damon sighed heavily. If only Elena had explained to their daughter why she was different, why she never heard from her father, and why she lived a life made up of lies. Things could have been entirely different if she had. He wouldn't have to face this now – running after his own daughter and trying to convince her that she has a father. It was a simple task Elena had agreed to do after they went their separate ways. She was supposed to tell her how her mother and father were once in love, but then the love faded away, just like any other good love story there ever was. Audrey should have known that he impregnated Elena. That a _blood-sucker_ got her pregnant and made her give birth to a beautiful child who would someday become just like her father.

He didn't want to show himself to his daughter. He thought about it over and over again, and always came to the conclusion that if he did, his daughter would hate him for eternity. But as he continued to follow her around and protect her without her knowing, he realized that he was longing for her. He wanted a daughter. He wanted a family. He wanted to mend whatever had been broken, and somehow he knew he had to start with Audrey.

But there she was, running away with her frightened eyes. She looked like a girl completely lost and had no intention of going back. She sped up, her father following her, and stopped looking back.

"I just want to talk!" Damon called out.

Audrey pretended not to hear him.

He groaned and continued to run after her. He passed trees, dodged branches, jumped over stones and finally he noticed that he was running and jumping over the same things. Damon quickly looked around him. The house was still in sight and they seemed to have not moved any farther from where they were just minutes ago. Audrey was running in circles. She was trying to tire him out. She was smart, but she didn't know what her father was.

Damon wasn't the kind of guy who'd get tired.

In fact, he wasn't like any kind of guy.

He smirked and stopped running. And then, not a few moments after, Audrey bumped into his chest and fell back into a pile of leaves.

"Get away from me!" Audrey screamed, grabbing a sharp rock and throwing it at his face.

Damon easily dodged it. "Easy," he calmly replied, offering his hand to her.

As a response, she just stared at his hand and frowned. "Who do you think you are?" she sneered, grabbing another rock and throwing it at him with no particular aim.

He caught the rock and dropped it right between his feet. "I don't think I'm anyone, Audrey," he replied, his voice husky and deep. "But I do know I'm your father."

"How is that possible?" she demanded. The girl seemed to start to calm down. Good, thought Damon. He couldn't take more of her teenage drama. He had to set things straight before Elena arrived home, which, unfortunately, was soon.

"I've always existed," he replied, squatting down. "Your mother probably thought it would be better if you never knew about me. I don't blame her." He bit his inner cheek. Of course he was blaming her. Who else was there to blame?

"Why?" she asked, crawling away. "Why does she think it's better?"

"Because," he said, stopping like he wasn't sure if he should go on or just stop and back away from it all. "Because I'm a vampire."

He thought she'd gasp dramatically and run away screaming, but instead the girl burst out laughing. He watched her as she closed her watery eyes and clutched her stomach, gasping for air from the fits of laughter. He didn't understand. What was so funny?

"You're a vampire," she said, still laughing.

"Yes," he said, arching an eyebrow. "And so are you."

"Tell me, how much did my friends pay you to do this?" she asked, getting up and brushing herself off of the dirt that stuck to her jeans. "Tell them you want your money back."

"I don't understand," Damon replied.

"Don't act like you don't," she said, rolling her eyes as she started to walk back to the house. "You're a good actor, but you're not fooling me!" she called, looking back for the last time.

He didn't even bother to run after her. Maybe it wasn't the right time. Maybe there was no right time. He'd lost his chance and now he wasn't quite sure if he did have another. Quietly, he walked away, sending quick glances behind him to check on the girl, just to see if she'd gotten home safe even if the house was just a few meters away.

He had to make her believe him.

But first he had to pay Elena a surprise visit.


End file.
